UFC fighter Mike Malott has rallied the MMA community behind him after revealing that he would be donating all his show money to his coach’s daughter who is battling cancer.
Malott was fresh off winning Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 with UFC 273 signalling his debut fight for the promotion.
The Canadian defeated Mickey Gall Gall with a first-round TKO on the preliminary card - yet it was his post-match actions and his generosity towards Team Alpha coach Joey Rodriguez and his family, that made the fighting community take notice.
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In a post-match interview, he said: “Someone very close to me, his daughter was diagnosed with cancer. His 15-year-old daughter, [with a] stage three lymphoma.”
“If you can please make a donation, I’m going to be donating my show money from tonight.
“$10,000 to this foundation to help this beautiful family make it through this time, and kick cancer’s a**.”
The comments lead to huge applause from the UFC 273 crowd, with Malott being one of the lowest-paid UFC fighters on the roster.
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He would later take to Instagram to reveal the giving nature of the fight community including the UFC boss Dana White.
He said: “Dana White said he’d make the donation instead to let me keep my money! I will still make a donation, but a huge thank you to Dana for doing that - that was amazing!”
While the UFC fan base also got around the cause in a big way.
The post continued: “To the fans who handed me money from their pockets without hesitation as I walked from the cage you absolutely blew me away with generosity!
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“Thirdly, to the almost 900 (and still counting) fans who donated to Angie’s fight, you’ll make a massive difference for an amazing family.”
YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul also took to Twitter to commit $10,000 to the foundation, via his own charity Boxing Bullies.
Paul has been a strong opponent of the low pay that UFC fighters receive from their fights and also used the donation as an opportunity to yet again call out Dana White.
He tweeted: “Michael Malott, congrats on the win. Count me and Boxing Bullies in for $10K. F**k cancer and f**k s****y fighter pay.”
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Malott has been commended for using his platform for such a cause and certainly left his mark on the fighting world in his UFC debut matchup.
Topics: Dana White, Jake Paul, UFC, Australia
Jayden Collins